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JEWELRY NEWS NEWSLETTER PARTY ZONE
White Elephant Tea Party
Brought to you by Mrs. Gottrocks Fine Jewelry and GiftsMove over Mad Hatter! Its time for a Tea Party with a Twist!
Its always nice to invite your close friends over just to say hello and catch up. But after you give your house a good cleaning, there's all that STUFF you don't know what to do with like - stuff that usually goes into the yard sale box. Here's a clever way to combine spring cleaning with your get together that's really fun!
Throw a White Elephant Tea Party!
White Elephant parties are really easy to plan and a lot of fun to attend. You don't have to have a lot of room, and you don't need to invite a lot of guests, and you know everyone will have a good time because everyone "wins" something.
First, invite your friends and tell them to bring a White Elephant - one item from their home that is in good condition, but not wanted anymore. Something that would be suitable for a yard sale or flea market. Instruct them to place it in a clean, brown paper grocery store bag, and to fold over the top of the bag once. When your guests arrive, number the bags using a magic marker, and place them somewhere on display in the room. Then enjoy each other's company and use the White Elephants to play one or more party games. Here's a few game suggestions you can use for your party - play as many as you think your guest will enjoy:
White Elephant Cards
The Left/Right Game
White Elephant Auction
White Elephant Mini Games
The Thieves GameIt's always fun to end your party with a variation of the Thieves Game. There are many ways you can use White Elephants to entertain your guests, and if you do these parties often enough, some outrageous item always becomes the "Ultimate White Elephant", and it almost becomes a badge of honor to be the one who gets stuck with it and brings it back the next time.
What Tea Party would be complete without a light assortment of tea and light fare finger foods? Here are a few recipes perfect for your next tea party:
Click Here for Great Recipes for Your Tea Party, including:
- Tropical Tea Warmer
- Mini Cheese and Onion Pastries
- Dill Dip Loaf
- Pineapple Au Gratin
- French Broccoli
- Oreo Cookie Surprise
- Chicken Pasta Salad
We hope your next Tea Party will be tons of fun for your guests, and full of yummy delights!
This White Elephant Tea Party Planner has been presented by Mrs. Gottrocks Fine Jewelry and Gifts.
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White Elephant Cards - Set up card tables with 4 per table and play rounds of an easy card game. Each person takes a White Elephant with them to the table, selected from the display. When someone at the table wins, they get to look in all the bags at the table, and pick one they want. Then they change places with someone else at another table, and another round of cards is played. Do this over and over, until the bags are good and mixed - and your company has had a chance to really visit. Then everyone in turn gets to open their bags, show what they've received. Then offer them the opportunity to trade gifts for a while, and invite them to take their White Elephant home with them after the party.
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The Left/Right Game - Write a little one page story, using the word "right" and "left" as many times as you can, and the word "stop" in several places. Have a guest choose a White Elephant bag (unopened) from the display to use as a prize. Then place your guest in a group, and read the story, with the guests passing the White Elephant around the circle, passing it one space left when they hear the word "left" and one space right when they hear the word "right". If they hear the word "stop" - the person holding the White Elephant wins that bag, chooses another from the display and hands it to someone in the circle, and drops out of play. Then resume the story to its conclusion, repeating these actions. Repeat the story if necessary.
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White Elephant Auction - Use play money from a game to award to your guests as they play a series of mini-games. After you've played your mini games (making sure everyone has won some money), hold an auction for the White Elephant bags, and then a drawing for the rest of the bags which were not bought.
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Trivia: Guests answer trivia questions (use a trivia game for the questions).
Handbag Game: Guests get points for every item on a list that is in their pockets or handbag.
Sleepwear Game: Guests take a test which lists all the guests names and they are asked to guess whether a person is a pajama person or a nightgown person.
Who Is This? Game: Guests fill out an information sheet about themselves (favorite color, favorite state, favorite food) and it is read to the group and the first person to guess who the person is wins.
The Dictionary Game: Each guest looks up a word from a dictionary, and writes a paraphrased definition for that word (in their own words, not as printed in the dictionary). Guests are then asked to vote as a group on whether the definition they have read is real, or something they made up. If they fool the majority of the group, that guest wins. This is played best with an unabridged dictionary.
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When your friends arrive, have them place their White Elephant bag on the display. At the end of your party, have everyone sit in a circle around the display. Pick someone to go first by drawing a name at random. The first person selects a bag, then opens it and shows everyone in the room what they have won. Then the person to their left selects a bag, and shows everyone what they have won. However, that person can choose to keep that White Elephant bag, or trade theirs for the one the first person has. Then the person to their left has a turn, but can steal from either of the first two, trading them for what they have or choosing to keep what they have. It goes around the circle, until the last person chooses, but by then they can trade their gift with anyone. The person who went first then has one more turn (because there was no one to steal from when it was their turn) and gets to trade with anyone in the group. This is a REALLY fun game and most guests truly enjoy it!
